


Heartmagic (Working Title) NaNoWriMo Project 2k16

by I_Am_Your_Dentist



Category: Original Work
Genre: M/M, Multi, Other
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-11-04
Updated: 2016-11-04
Packaged: 2018-08-28 22:57:06
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,983
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8466166
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/I_Am_Your_Dentist/pseuds/I_Am_Your_Dentist
Summary: A mercenary band led by one Jacob Hawkins is given a seemingly simple task: escort a priest-in-training to his new home to take his vows. However, things take a turn when they are attacked, and the priest unwittingly reveals he is actually a prince, and the sole known survivor of his family. Will they be able to get him to safety in time, before his throne's usurper finds and eliminates the last remaining threat to his rule?





	

**Author's Note:**

> This is a place for me to dump my nanowrimo project so I can keep my friends updated on its progress. It will be unedited and rather rough, so be forewarned.

Hawkins tilted his chair back, the creak of the wood muffled by the tavern crowd. It was late evening, and most of the patrons still awake were drinking. Rather loudly, at that.

He closed his eyes in an effort to ease his pounding head, frowning when the ache had the gall to persist.

  
_Maybe I should just go to bed..._

  
A loud clatter on the table he was so precariously balanced on caused him to start, his chair legs slamming back down to the floor. Another tankard of ale sat before him, next to the five or six emptied ones he’d been working his way through over the course of the night. The grinning face of his brother greeted him.

  
“Come on, brother, you should be celebrating!” Caro sat down in the chair opposite him, another tankard clutched in his hand. “We got a big fat paycheck! We can eat for weeks before we need to take on another job.”

  
Hawkins moodily pushed the full tankard away, cradling his head in his hands. His brother’s loud, booming voice cut right through him like a thousand knives. He was not in the mood to deal with any of this.

  
“I don’t recall you being a part of that ‘we,’” he bit back, more harshly than he intended. What he wouldn’t give for a soft bed right about now. “You were too busy showing off. If the rest of us hadn’t been there, that girl would be dead right now.”

  
“Wha-!” Caro’s face went beet red. “That’s not true!”

  
“No?” Hawkins lifted his head to glare at his brother. “What part of ‘stay with the girl’ did you not understand, exactly? She was a civilian caught in the middle of a skirmish! You were supposed to protect her, Caro, not run off and play hero!”

  
“She was fine!” All traces of good cheer were gone from his younger brother’s face. Any regret Hawkins might have felt about that were burned away by the sharp edges of his aching head. “You’re the one who got...who got surrounded and forced me to come in and save you!”

  
“It was part of the plan. You knew Bellamy was watching my back, you knew I had Tomas and Leyla with me. Did you even stop to think for one second what might have happened if that girl had been hurt? Did you stop to think at all?!” The yelling certainly wasn’t helping his head, that was for certain, but now that he’d started, he couldn’t very well stop. Caro was always diving into these situations without any regard or respect for him as a leader. This time he’d gone too far.

  
A loud scrape of wood on wood was his only warning before a fist landed squarely on his jaw, knocking him flat back on the floor. Only the sound of clomping boots let him know that Caro was gone. To where, he didn’t know. He didn’t particularly care, either.

  
Oh, his aching head...

  
Cool fingers pressed against his forehead, and he leaned into them before slowly opening his eyes. Had he closed them? Must have been unconscious for a few moments. His sister’s face slowly came into focus, her expression worried.

  
“You two fought again.” Though she seemed to be trying to speak in a soothing voice, her tone was berating, almost accusatory. As the party currently laying on the floor with a split lip, he couldn’t help being a little offended.

“We talked,” he said shortly. “About his performance today. He didn’t seem to appreciate it.”

  
“Imagine that.” With his sister’s aid, Hawkins managed to leverage himself back upright, setting his chair back on its legs and lowering himself back into it. If he thought he had a headache before, it was nothing compared to now. He could taste blood in his mouth, and quickly grabbed an empty tankared to spit a large red glob into. He squinted at the bottom, trying to figure out if that was a tooth or not, but became distracted by Bellamy’s hands on a fresh wound on his arm.

  
“Hey!” He snatched it away, glaring down at the cut as if it had been the culprit. “Leave it alone. It’s fine.”

  
“It’s bleeding.” She yanked at the edge of the bandage and stared as it began to unravel easily. “And badly wrapped. What exactly did you expect?”

“I expected to be able to take care my own wounds.”

  
“Oh, since when?” Bellamy rolled her eyes. “You go running to Andrew every time you have so much as a papercut. Just admit it. You didn’t want Caro seeing how much it bothered you.”

  
“That’s ridiculous.” He tried to redress the cut, grunting in frustration when it unraveled again. Not as easy as it looked. “Why would I care what Caro thinks anyway?”

  
“Oh, I don’t know. Maybe because, if not for him, that would be in your chest about now?” She seemed to take mercy on him and began to slowly wrap the bandage around his arm again. “When are you going to admit he’s capable of more than you give him credit for? You can’t always blame him for every bad thing that might happen, you know.”

  
“The girl was more important. We were supposed to bring her safely back to her father.” He rubbed his jaw, trying to feel for breaks. None, but he knew there’d be a bruise there for weeks. “He disobeyed me, Bells. He doesn’t respect my authority as the leader of this group. I can’t just let that slide because we’re family.”

  
“Like you’ve ever let anything he does slide. When we were kids, you wouldn’t even let him steal a cookie before dinner before running to mother and tattling on him.” She carefully tied the bandage up, trying not to make it too tight. “Look...Caro isn’t like me. He doesn’t understand you show affection by being a huge grump to everyone. He looks up to you! All he’s ever wanted is for you to say ‘good job, Caro’ every once in a while.”

  
“Maybe when he actually does a good job, I will.”

  
“Oh, stop it!” Bellamy glared at him. “Look, I understand you’re not exactly in a sunny mood right now, but stop acting like you don’t care, because it’s a crock. You’re always insisting we take extra breaks for Tomas so he doesn’t get too hot in his armor, always making sure Andrew eats enough, always fussing over everyone but Caro. He thinks you hate him!” She crossed her arms tightly. “I’m beginning to wonder it myself. Is it because...is it because he reminds you of dad?”

  
Hawkins blinked. He hadn’t expected that question. “I...no. No, he doesn’t Bells. He’s nothing like dad.” Their father hadn’t been the nicest man alive, though that was putting it mildly. He’d never seen any of him in Caro, though. Except, perhaps, when he got angry. “I just want him to push himself. He’s still just a kid.”

  
“Well, so am I! We’re twins, remember?” Bellamy sighed. “Look, I know things like this aren’t always easy, but...we’re all we have left. Don’t make me choose between you if he finally gets sick of you treating him like this.” She stood, offering a hand to help him up. “Let’s go to bed? Maybe we can talk about this in the morning.”

  
Hawkins shrugged, taking her hand and raising slowly to his feet. Tiredness mixed with pain mixed with nausea was making him very unbalanced, and he had to lean a bit on Bellamy’s shoulder as they made their way to the room they’d reserved for the night. The rest of the band had gone to bed early. In the back of his mind, he wondered if he should go look for Caro, but even if he wasn’t certain he would just get another sock to the jaw, he wasn’t confident he wouldn’t immediately collapse.

  
“I wouldn’t really blame him if he hated me,” he said, almost casually. “We’ve never gotten along, Bellamy. I don’t see why he even wants my approval.”

  
“Could be your natural charm,” she said dryly. “You know how everyone falls at your feet.”

  
“Har har.” He pushed open the door with his good arm, nearly stumbling over the medicine chest that had been left in the middle of the floor. He almost yelled until he saw Andrew’s sleeping face. It was pale and gaunt, which meant he’d pushed himself with his healing powers again. Their wounds hadn’t been that bad, but wherever there was an ailing person, Andrew wasn’t far behind. He probably cured the whole tavern of everything from a fever to every STI under the sun.

  
“Push that out of the way, will you? Someone’s gonna faceplant on the floor with that thing in the way.” He sat heavily on his own bed, struggling to get his boots off. He couldn’t remember being so exhausted before in his life. Next came the leather plate on the front of his armor, then the chainmail, until he was finally left in nothing but a cloth tunic.

  
“Will you please at least try to talk to him tomorrow?” Bellamy’s voice was soft from the bed next to his. She too had removed her armor and sat in nothing but her night clothes. Her mage’s staff was at her feet. He watched as she kicked it under the bed and out of sight. “Just....it’s going to be a long day if you two are going to be fighting again.”

  
“Fine, fine...” Hawkins pulled the scratchy blanket over him as he settled into the mattress, planning to sleep like the dead. He was grateful that Fray and Mercer were keeping watch tonight. He couldn’t have kept his eyes open if he tried. Within minutes, he could feel himself sinking down into the black, dark depths of sleep.

\--

  
A loud banging on the door woke Hawkins suddenly from his slumber. The light of the sun was already filtering in through the slats in the shutters, but he could tell it was early morning at best. Not a time when he relished being suddenly woken.

  
“Five more minutes,” he grumbled, pulling the blanket over his head, only remembering too late about his bruised jaw. He winced at the pain and again as another loud knock broke through his attempts at sleep. Whoever it was wasn’t letting up. Didn’t they already pay the tavern owner a week in advance?

  
“Alright. Alright!” He sat up slowly, gingerly nursing his jaw and instinctively reaching for his armor. After a moment’s hesitation, he decided whoever it was could deal with him being in his underwear, and if his head were lucky perhaps they’d even come to assasinate him. He stumbled to the door to peek out, and was surprised to find neither an assassin or the tavern owner at the door, but instead a beautiful woman dressed in silks and jewels much too nice to be even glanced at in a place like this.

  
“Mister...Hawkins, I presume?” She raised one fine brow, her dark skin barely seeming to wrinkle at the motion as she glanced him over quickly. He had never felt more naked in his life than he did at that moment.

  
“Er...yes. Yes, I’m...” He glanced around, making sure there weren’t goons waiting to ambush him from the hallway. She appeared to be alone, though he wasn’t stupid enough to believe that was actually the case. “Are you here about the Robinson account? Because I had thought...he said things were settled...”

  
“I assure you, I haven’t the faintest idea what you’re talking about.” She moved him aside with a gentle sweep of her hand, entering the room and shutting the door behind her in one grand motion. Everything about her dripped elegance, and that would have been true even if she’d been wearing the rattiest of rags. “I came to hire you for a job.”

  
Hawkins stared at her blankly, trying to figure out if she was serious or not. She had a polite smile fixed on her face, but her gaze was firm. After the last job they’d had...well, it had been enough of a strain he’d been hoping to just lay low and relax a couple days. They didn’t have to worry about jumping around from job to job with all the coin they had in their chest right now, and they so rarely got to enjoy it...

  
Out of the corner of his eye, he noticed stirring. Leyla peeked out from behind her blanket, shooting him a questioning stare. He shook his head as she began to reach for one of her daggers. No need to resort to that.

  
“Look, I’m...flattered you came to me. But I’m going to have to turn you down. My crew and I need some time to rest before we can take on another job.” There were plenty of mercenary guilds around this area. Let one of them handle it for once.

  
All at once the woman’s smile dropped into an icy stare. “I’m afraid this isn’t a request, Mr. Hawkins.” She took a step closer. Though she was small, the power that radiated from her made Hawkins take a fearful step back. “My charge needs an escort, and nobody but the best can do it. You are the best, aren’t you? Or have the stories I’ve heard been false?”

  
“Well, I...I wouldn’t say the best...” He shrugged one shoulder, trying to avoid her gaze. Not a request, huh? Just what kind of job was this? “Just, uh...what exactly are we talking here?”

  
“Nothing more than escorting a priest in training to his new home,” she said, her tone airy and light. “He’s being transferred to a church in Hallowell to take his vows. But the poor thing...he just can’t make it on his own. And I’m afraid none of my soldiers can be spared to take him there.” She stepped forward, her smile friendly once again. “And of course, you will be paid in advance. Quite handsomely.”

  
Hawkins chewed at his lip. Even if he wasn’t afraid of what this woman might do to him if he refused, the promise of coin was always a tempting one. He could afford to get the twins something for their birthday. Or maybe even a new sword.

  
“I suppose if...no one else can really do it...”

  
“Fantastic, my dear!” She moved past him to the door, all smiles and grace once again. “Come to the Georgeta church once you’ve gathered the rest of your little guild. Ask for Sebastian. I’m certain he’ll be thrilled to meet you.”

  
Hawkins wasn’t able to get in another word before the door clicked behind her, leaving him standing stunned and staring. Had that happened? Was it a fever dream? He glanced over his shoulder and saw Leyla crawling out of bed and starting to put her armor on, looking just as confused.

  
“That was...interesting,” she said slowly. “So I suppose duty calls?”

  
“I suppose...” He grimaced. “Well...escort isn’t much of a job, is it? Just take this kid to a church, drop him off, what’s the worst that can happen? Hallowell is only three days from here.”

  
“A lot can happen in three days.” She shrugged, combing her fingers through her long red hair and tying it back. “But you’re the leader. We’ll follow you if you wanna take this on.”

  
“It’s not like I had much choice in the matter.” A quick glance around the room revealed that Bellamy had already gotten up for the day. Fray and Mercer were curled together in bed, Mercer’s nearly black skin standing out stark against Fray’s tanned and freckled. Andrew was in the bed next to theirs, looking better than last night, but still with deep dark circles under his eyes. He didn’t want to wake them, but there wasn’t much he could do about that. At least he could give them a few more moments while he tracked down the twins and explained the situation.

  
“I’ll be back...I’d better let Bellamy and Caro know.” He still didn’t even know where Caro had been all night. He hoped Bellamy found him. As angry as he’d been the other night, he couldn’t help but be worried something might have happened to his little brother.

  
His fears were assuaged when he stepped into the dining part of the tavern and found his siblings eating a quiet breakfast together. Bellamy had her back turned to him, so Caro was the one who saw him first. He looked horrified, and at first Hawkins thought he was afraid of him, but then he realized his brother’s blue eyes were fixed on his jaw.  
“Good...good morning, brother.” Caro’s voice was barely audible above the din of the tavern. He sank low in his seat, looking like a scolded child. Something about it seemed to rekindle Hawkins’ bad mood. Caro wasn’t a child. If he felt bad, he could apologize, but Hawkins wasn’t going to coddle him into doing so.

  
“Good morning,” he answered coolly, his gaze moving past Caro and fixing on Bellamy. “We have a new job. Apparently some rich priest brat needs an escort, and we’ve been given the honor.”

  
“What?! But you’re injured!” Caro stood from the table, but Hawkins pointedly ignored him. He knew Caro knew he’d had worse than this before. He would survive it like all the others.

  
“Hurry up and finish. I’d like to leave within the hour.” Bellamy just responded with a nod, shoveling eggs into her mouth mechanically. She wasn’t much of a morning person, and with the late night she’d likely had tracking down Carter, he couldn’t blame her for not being very talkative.

  
When he moved to leave, Caro grabbed his arm tightly. “Please...you know you’re in no condition to fight right now. You said we could take some time off! What happened to that?”

  
Hawkins snatched his arm back. “What happened to it is that I changed my mind.” He turned back toward his younger brother, glaring. “If you’d rather not go, you’re welcome to stay behind. It might be good for us to lose some dead weight.”

  
Caro’s ears flushed red, and he sat back down at the table. “I...I just...” His hands clenched into fists on his lap. “No, brother...I’ll go...”

  
“Good. I don’t expect to hear another word about this.” Out of the corner of his eye, he caught Bellamy shooting him a disapproving stare, but ignored it. They didn’t have time to sit around and debate about this. They would still need to restock their provisions, feed the horses, and mark their route before they lost the day’s light. Gods willing, they could get a few hours of travel in before they had to make camp for the night.

  
When he came back, Mercer was awake, dragging a tired hand down their thin face. Bright yellow eyes blinked at him as Hawkins gently shut the door behind him.  
“New job?” They stretched their arms above their head with a yawn, their slim frame arching back. “I thought we were taking a few days?”

  
“We were. Unfortunately, we don’t have the luxury of refusing this one.” He moved to gather his armor, starting the arduous process of buckling all the straps. “It’s fine. Easy job, we get a good paycheck, go on holiday and disappear off the map for a bit.”

 

“Sounds like a good time.” They smiled at him dreamily. “Do you suppose we could go see the ocean? I’ve always wanted to vacation at the beach.”

  
“Sure.” Hawkins smiled. “That’ll be our first stop.” He nodded at Fray who dropped a sleepy head onto Mercer’s shoulder. “Good morning, Fray. Ready to hit the road?”

  
“Go sit on a spear,” Fray grumbled. “One with splinters.”

“I’m confused, am I sitting on the pointy end or the one with splinters?”

  
“The one where you shut up.” The elven man groaned as he moved to the edge of the bed and began to pull on his clothes, his eyes remaining firmly shut as if he could catch just a little more sleep that way. It would have been funny if Hawkins wasn’t so sure he was silently plotting to murder him the next chance he got.

  
Andrew was still asleep, so Hawkins moved to his bedside and gently shook his shoulder. His eyelashes fluttered, pale blue eyes blinking rapidly at him as he fought to focus.  
“Wh...is...is it...food?” He seemed to be having trouble stringing sentences together this morning, so Hawkins waited patiently as he slowly sat up and blinked hard. His gaze traveled around the room to the packed bags and everyone getting dressed. “Are we...moving out?”

  
“Yes, unfortunately, I’m going to need you to get up.” He patted his friend’s shoulder. “You can sleep on the cart if you need to.” Since Andrew didn’t seem like he was up to it, Hawkins began to pack up his medical trunk. Tomas came to help him carry it, and together they got it into the cart. Bellamy was busy feeding the horses. Once they’d eaten, they could move out. Once again, however, his brother was nowhere to be seen.

  
“Is Caro off flirting again?” There never seemed to be a moment when he stopped. Every tavern or town they went to, it was the same story. More than half the time he ended up in one or more bedrooms before they moved on. Now, they didn’t have the time.

  
“He’s buying food for the trip, actually.” Bellamy wasn’t looking at him, brushing the nearest horse’s mane to free it from clumps. “You know, that wound on your sword-arm IS pretty bad. You sure you’re gonna be okay?”

“I’ve had worse. Besides, this is an easy job. I doubt we’ll even need to do any fighting.” He leaned against the stable wall, fingers touching the edge of the bandage on his arm. He’d have to ask Andrew to take a look at it, when he was up to it. Maybe when Bellamy and Caro weren’t around. He couldn’t very well admit how much it hurt now.

“As if there’s ever been a day we didn’t have to do that.” She shot him a pointed glance. “But if you say so, oh fearless leader, who am I to question?”

“I do.” He watched as she rhythmically brushed, becoming lost in the motion until footsteps broke him out of his reverie. The rest of the group was here, bags packed and flung into the cart without much ceremony. Andrew immediately crawled in among them.

“So, Leyla tells me we’re going to be escorting some priest?” Tomas looked to Hawkins for confirmation. He hadn’t been awake for the conversation, it seemed. Hawkins nodded.

“Some bratty little kid who needs a babysitter. That’s all.” He moved to check that the horses were hitched up properly. Anything to keep his hands busy. He was starting to get restless. “Thought we could take a long vacation after, what do you think?”

“That’d be nice. Leyla’s always wanted to see the mountains.” He smiled until his eyes crinkled. “Who am I to deny her that?”

“The worst husband in the world, naturally.” Out of the corner of his eye, Hawkins noticed Caro load a crate into the cart, presumably filled with the food they’d need for the trip. His younger brother avoided his gaze as he moved up to sit in the driver’s seat. He knew he’d promised Bellamy he would talk to Caro today, but he couldn’t see the good it would do with both of them in such a mood. Maybe after this job was over.

With that, they were ready to move out, off to Georgeta church to meet their new charge.


End file.
